Making art in the studio, listening to music or NPR and thinking, all the time thinking. It could be about red versus orange or politics or the world collapsing around us or growing old or (most probably) wondering what to have for dinner.

Monday, August 2, 2010

Where's Joanne? (The Person Who Is the Encaustic Conference)

Have you seen this artist and conference organizer?

I really get a kick out of most newspapers and TV that say they follow "The Arts." What they usually mean by that terminology is everything but visual art unless it's on a commercial scale like Takashi Murakami, who sells Louis Vuitton handbags at his shows, or perhaps Jeff Koons, who creates giant reflective balloon animals as public sculpture. So let's just say that my expectations were not high when I saw that WGBH in Boston had featured the encaustic conference on "Greater Boston," the evening news show hosted by Emily Rooney.

Money Talks and the Media Walks (after it)
Of course it was money that drew attention to encaustic - the medium Jasper Johns used to paint the flag, formerly owned by author Michael Crichton, that sold recently for $28.6 million. You can just see the head scratching that went on when those writing and telecasting about The Arts were asking themselves, "Uh, what the hell is encaustic?" So enterprising and emmy-winning reporter for WGBH, Jared Bowen, found "encaustic" at Montserrat College of Art, which had been promoting itself for hosting the encaustic conference.

Jared Bowen

President Stephen Immerman

On July 8th Emily Rooney presented Jared's piece about the the encaustic conference at Montserrat. On camera were the new President of Montserrat, Stephen Immerman; the Director of the Montserrat Gallery, Leonie Bradbury; and Julie Shaw Lutts, who demonstrated how she uses encaustic in her work. Jared said that Montserrat had "taken ownership" of encaustic by presenting the conference, which he referred to as a "massive brainstorming session" where "the small number of artists scattered across the country" who use this "style" come together to talk to each other. President Immerman said that he had never heard of encaustic prior to his arrival at Montserrat and described the conference as "a group of artists teaching each other."

Joanne with Miles Conrad at the 2010 conference

Where's Joanne?
"Where's Joanne, " I kept wondering as I watched this piece. I kept waiting for Joanne Mattera, the Director of the Encaustic Conference, to appear on camera since she was the person who conceived the conference in the first place and brought it to Montserrat and is the person whose incredible energy, passion, contacts and vision have made the conference the wonderful experience that it has been for each of its four years. Joanne's ground-breaking book, The Art of Encaustic Painting, (known as the bible of encaustic) established her authority in the medium of encaustic and led to encaustic's current flourishing popularity (despite what Jared had to say about its limited use). I waited until the end of the video, the chat between Jared and Emily after the video and the end of the segment and nowhere did I hear the name of Joanne Mattera. "How could Montserrat have let this happen?" I asked myself. Are they trying to take credit for Joanne's work? Where is Joanne to correct these wrong descriptions of the conference as a DIY-fest where the 25 people who use the "style" come together in an art potluck? How could this happen?

Joanne introducing scholar Roberta Bernstein, 2010 keynote speaker

I am angry that Montserrat could pretend that this conference was all their own idea. I'm angry at the injustice of their taking the credit because I know how hard Joanne has worked on developing the annual encaustic conference into the incredibly well-organized, informative and enjoyable event it is. She does everything from the top down on this conference with very little help from Montserrat. I found her this past year on the day before the opening of the conference delivering palettes and setting up tables in the classrooms. Meanwhile, she was the one who had:

arranged the juror for the conference show

found and invited Roberta Bernstein, the Jasper Johns scholar, to give the keynote talk

reviewed and accepted proposals for talks and classes

scheduled all those talks and classes - including all the contact with presenters

conceived, arranged and moderated the panel of guests for Saturday morning

invited the artists, chose the works, hung the show and wrote about "Wax Libris II: The Library Show"

devised and developed the plan for "Best Foot Forward," the wonderful hallway show of works by all the conference attendees

answered all the questions, completed all the details, and barely drew a non-conference breath during months of preparations

Joanne moderating the Saturday morning panel at the 2010 conference

But perhaps it was not Montserrat who was responsible for this glaring omission of Joanne from the story of the encaustic conference, but rather Jared Bowen, who missed the lead in the story?

So I tell you what I'm doing to find out the truth: I'm writing to Jared Bowen and Emily Rooney at WGBH and to all the staff at Montserrat including President Steven Immerman, Laura Tonelli - Dean of Faculty and Academic Affairs - and to Jo Broderick at the Montserrat Public Relations Department. I want this injustice to be corrected and for Joanne's vital role in the conference to be acknowledged and applauded. If WGBH does not do it, then Montserrat should post the correction on their website. I urge everyone to write and get this fixed. Meanwhile, I have started a FaceBook group called "Where's Joanne?" and I urge everyone to join.

Nancy, this is amazing, shameful and I expect embarrassing, for the College. It is truly baffling that Joanne Mattera could be omitted from any sort of press coverage on the Montserrat Encaustic Conference. I say baffling, because I cannot conceive that the individuals interviewed for the clip would mindfully omit her. I read your post and I watched the Jared Bowen clip. It will be interesting to see his knowledge of Joanne, or lack of, and it will be important to see if material was cut from the final portion that aired. Still, with Joanne’s presence in the encaustic world, AND her position as creator of the conference, it is hard to believe an established reporter would allow the key individual to be omitted from the final story. Looking at those included in the news clip, it would seem that the name Mattera would have been in some of their comments. I find it interesting, if not concerning, that the President of an Art College was totally unfamiliar with the medium of encaustic.

Thank you, Nancy, for bringing this to our community's attention. On one of your Wall posts, Suzanne Desrosiers asked why I hadn't posted something about this myself, since I speak up about other injustices (Target, most recently). Good question, Suzanne!

I'm going out of my way to be evenhanded, especially because this involves not just me and the college but all of YOU, folks who have attended the conference for up to four years in a row.

As you point out, there is no conference without me. I have not renewed my contract. Now I am thinking about what to do next. I don't want all you fabulous artists to jump off the cliff with me--this is not "Thelma and Louise"--so while I have departed, I want to see what I can come up with next, and where, before I make any big pronouncements.

In the meantime, you can follow what I'm up to at the new conference blog, www.encausticconference.blogspot.com.

Here's what I know about any PR machine that arranges for editorial coverage: The points that the PR department wants covered *get covered.* I believe I would be one of those points. If they don't get covered, and the college is truly embarrassed by the product, perhaps they should not be touting it via e-mail announcement.

In a conversation with the PR folks just prior to conference, I said that I thought the Jasper Johns angle was misguided. Give Johns his due, but encaustic is about a long history, the people who are working with it now, and the art they are making with it, not about the money it's making for one artist, dealer and auction house.

I'm open to your ideas and suggestions about where I should go next. Please email me at joanne@joannemattera.com.

BTW: My word verification for this post: "Calmed." If that's not the universe sendng me a message, I don't know what is!

Thank you Lynette, Jane and Joanne for your comments on this post. Joanne's omission from the WGBH piece was indeed shocking. But even more shocking is Joanne's decision not to renew her contract with Montserrat for next year's conference. We will have to wait and see what develops, but the conference as we have known it is no more. There is no doubt in my mind that whatever Joanne decides to do from here on in will reach the same standard of excellence she has achieved in the past. I will be with her and follow where she leads.

OK...I read your post, NN (and could feel my blood pressure rising as I did). Then I watched the video. Even though I knew from your amazing reportage that Joanne was not mentioned in the feature, I STILL KEPT WAITING FOR JOANNE TO SHOW UP ON THE SCREEN. Or for her name to be mentioned. Shame on those who are responsible for this (can't even find the appropriate adjective to fit the situation) oversight.May justice be swift. Jeez.

Even though this is unacceptable and disgusting behavior on the part of Montserrat, the people who know and love Joanne and who really matter KNOW THE TRUTH NOW!! Thank Nancy for bringing this to light. I will make my feelings known to the proper sources. And to Joanne-whatever comes next, I'm sure YOU will make it fabulous!

Thanks for getting this out to all of us Nancy. I might never have heard of it otherwise. Joanne, I hope you know that Bill and I will be right there with you when you decide what's best for the conference and for YOU. We appreciate the heart and soul you've put into this event and are with you 100%!

This is Montserrat's Oil Spill. Every bit of their publicity on and off their own website should stress their good fortune in recognizing what Joanne's brought them and appreciating her direction above any other point.Laura's right about the differences between reporters, producers, editors, even News Directors. Having watched it twice now, it's hard to tell if WGBH considers it reportage or editorial. As editorial, one would think they'd better inform themselves before looking like total dopes about fine arts issues. If it's reportage/news, they should all find other jobs. The basic facts of a news story: who, what, where, when and why - all require Joanne's name be prominent. Shame on WGBH for having such low standards of conveying information. As a public television station, I urge all of you in the viewing area around Boston to register your complaints about shoddy reporting to the station's manager and news director.

Here's a copy of the letter I just sent to WGBH. If you are so inclined, you might send something similar. It would be nice for them to knkow I am not writing to them in a vacuum.

J

August 3, 2010

Emily RooneyJared BowenWGBH One Guest StreetBoston, MA 02135

Dear Ms Rooney and Mr. Bowen,

Recently online I viewed your program, “Encaustic Art at Montserrat College of Art,” which aired on July 8.

Imagine my surprise when I found myself a missing person.

I am the founder and director of the encaustic conference at Montserrat. I took my idea to Montserrat in 2007 and through my mailing list, contacts, publicity and thousands of hours of work, created an event that has become international. Of the 22,000 people who have bought my book, The Art of Encaustic Painting: Contemporary Expression in the Ancient Medium of Pigmented Wax—the ‘bible” for short—some 250 people from throughout the United States, Canada, and even Latin America, showed up this year to participate in the conference.

So I’m wondering: How is it that there is no mention of me in your piece? Was it an editorial decision on your part, Ms. Rooney, to eliminate any mention of the key figure in this conference? Was it a reporting oversight, Mr. Bowen? Was it a lack of emphasis on the part of the speakers you interviewed? Or was it simply not part of the PR effort that got you to Montserrat?

These are not rhetorical questions. I would like a response.

It is my understanding that Montserrat is embarrassed by the program. I certainly am displeased. Indeed, I have not renewed by contract with the college as a result and will be taking the conference—or at least my ideas, contacts and constituency—elsewhere.

While I have remained uncharacteristically quiet about this issue on my own blog and on Facebook, other artists have not. Nancy Natale, in her Art in the Studio blog, has laid out the situation quite clearly (http://artinthestudio.blogspot.com/2010/08/wheres-joanne-person-who-is-encaustic.html ), and the link has been travelling virally through Facebook. There has been some Facebook mention of WGBH and Montserrat as well. One Fb’er described the situation as “WGBH does BAD.” A conferee writing into Natale’s blog has called this “Montserrat’s Oil Spill.”

Please clarify this issue for me: How is it that the key person in this conference went missing?

Pam, you're right about shame but is anyone feeling it? Personally I feel embarrassed that such a thing could happen.

Greg, the truth will set us free and make us fabulous (if only!)

Laura, although Jared Bowen produces spots for the show, which is hosted by Emily Rooney, his title on the WGBH website is "Reporter." I think he missed the boat on reporting about this event!

Linda, you are correct - all those of us who know Joanne and understand how much of herself she has put into the conference have to be there with her. It's the right thing to do - unlike some things that have gone on recently.

Hylla, I like the oil spill anology. Where's the Dawn for this one?

Joanne, that's an excellent letter that hits all the points and uses some humor mixed with serious criticism. Now we can only hope that WGBH will give you a serious reply and correct their onerous omission!

Nancy, thanks so much for your vigilance. Those of us outside the Boston area would have missed this news, while wondering about the conference blog's new look. My letter to Montserrat's president is on the FusedChicago blog: http://fusedchicago.blogspot.com/2010/08/montserrat-no-longer-epicenter.html

Montserrat should be correcting this oversight on its website and through mailings, and it is not!

I just got off the phone with WGBH and spoke to someone in the Greater Boston Programming area about the interview with Montserrat...

I mentioned that the story seemed to have a big omission and was causing a stir in the artists community I was then put on HOLD

What is this person's name? I was asked... Joanne Mattera I replied...She is the person who is the backbone of the conference and who influenced the resurgence of interest via her book published about 8 years ago...

"It is my understanding that Joanne Mattera was unavailable for the interview. Any omission was not intentional."

That may be, but somehow the story isn't very accurate and it's a problem. (said I).

Nancy, thanks so much for bringing this to our attention. Like Shelley mentioned, I would have totally missed it, especially as Joanne kept so quiet about it on her blog.It is outrageous that Joanne as the driving force of not only the Conference, but of promoting encaustic in general, was so slighted! I'm feeling really boiling with anger and Joanne, if you read this,Canada stands behind you: you can hold the conference here anytime...;-)))

Unavailable: Remember that print project I attended in Connecticut? I wrote about it on my blog ( http://joannemattera.blogspot.com/2010/07/printmaking-camp-day-6-pull.html) I was there from Monday, June 21 to Saturday afternoon, June 26.

This is after being nose to the grindstone on the conference for months.

I got a return phone call from Montserrat this afternoon. The person who called me was Laura Tonelli who is a Dean. (see Nancy's blog for exact title etc.) Laura has been very involved in the conference as well. She said she is willing to speak with anybody who wants to call her.

So in a short version, this is what she had to say:

Originally, GBH was going to come to the conference and be there on the Monday for post con, then interview Joanne and Laura. But the tv station postponed a couple of times until it got to the point that Laura was going to be away in Italy and Joanne out of state as well. Apparently the school chose to do the interview anyhow, (because it was a big opportunity for PR from them-my interpretation).

Laura is hurt and upset about the way this has all unfolded, because she has been very invested in the conference as well. She said she has TREMENDOUS respect for Joanne, as does the school. She is aware that there's a big to-do on Nancy's blog and also on FB, and that the image of the school is damaged. I asked if the school were planning to put anything on their website to try to rectify the situation. She told me that the college is going to have a PR meeting to discuss. Also, she was upset at the footage that GBH used to depict the President of the school; where he looked well, er, like an idiot.

So that's it for my investigative reporting...

NOTE: she said that the Greater Boston Show interview (original version) was over 1.5 hours long and that Joanne Mattera was mentioned 5 times. The TV station edited mention of her out of the clip.

Nancy,Thanks so much for waking me up to this, I'm saddened (but not surprised) at the handling of this. Seems that Montserrat was so excited about getting coverage they dropped the ball on being fair and thorough. Maybe they felt that since they pay Joanne, any work she does on the conference "belongs" to them...(pure speculation on my part). This is true for people working in research and development fields. Doesn't make it right, just sayin'

I'm in agreement with the other commentors, Joanne has the chops to put together another great encaustic event and I'd support her in that in any way I can. Montserrat was a convenient and comfortable container, not an essential ingredient.

Thanks again for getting the word out and providing a platform for others to speak.

Thanks SO much for publicizing this! I'm in Detroit and would never have known. Joanne's book is indeed my bible, and I recommend it to the growing number of painters adopting encaustic as a painting and sculptural medium. Keep us posted!

Lynette, thanks for this reporting. You have done us all a service. And Nancy, thanks for writing this blog post and providing a cyber venue for discussion.

I also have tremendous respect for the dean and, frankly, I don't think this fiasco would have happened had she not been on a trip abroad with students.

However, after seeing how badly the college and the president looked in the video--in addition to seeing that I was nowhere to be seen--why would the college continue to promote the video on its website? AND send out emails with a URL urging its recipients to view it? (I saw it only because a Boston art professional emailed me with the ink and said: "You have to view this video, NOW.")

Also, I have to ask: How desperate is *any* institution for publicity that it would go ahead with a video without the person who made the event possible? So to my mind there is no excuse for a) scheduling it without me, and b) promoting it when they saw that my name was not even mentioned. I could have provided more accurate information as well--i.e. encaustic is not a "style"; what we make is ART, not "encaustic art"; we are not do-it-yourselfers teaching each other but professionals who gather to share information, ideas and technical expertise.

(The president and gallery director said they mentioned me, and I believe them. But seeing the final product, someone at the college should have said, "It's missing a key component. We are not going to promote this in any way.")

Also, by the way, the president has not responded to me directly. I mean, what, the secret service won't allow it? He allowed the PR person to respond to my first email. I wrote: "I see that I am nowhere to be seen on the college's website regarding the video." The PR person's response, and I'm paraphrasing: Sorry, you were away when it took place.

The president also did not respond to my certified letter informing him and the dean of my termination of contract. Going through the dean, in a matter like this, is unacceptable. An "Im sorry. We blew it," would have gone a long way toward assuaging my displeasure.

Thea asks why I have said nothing on my blog. Thank you for asking that, Thea. There are a couple of reasons:1. I am not a victim. I am the person who created the most fabulous encaustic conference ever. I don't particularly wish to be known as as the person who got omitted from a stupid video for a show I'd never heard of on the local public TV station.

2. Mindful of my contract, I want to tread carefully. The college is an institution with financial resources (and a healthy profit from the conference). I am an independent contractor who earned a modest sum for my work who would have to pay for legal representation out of my own pocket. I am about to speak with my attorney now at $200 a hour.

3. On the relocated conference blog, www.encausticconference.blogspot.com, I have been putting up information slowly. For instance, my letter to WGBG is there.

Thanks, everyone, for your public and personal words of support, encouragement, leads and ideas. Please stay in touch with me (joanne@joannemattera.com) or via the new conference blog.

I am trying to take August off, but I'm responding to the many offers that have come in. A couple of venues are quite promising. My criteria: must be institutional or organizational, with an established infrastructure, interest in encaustic, the financial resources to pay me sufficiently for the enormous amount of work I am about to sink into the project, and a healthy respect for the tremendous gift I (and WE) are about to give them.

Montserrat's president answered my letter, and I have put it on the FusedChicago blog (http://fusedchicago.blogspot.com). I HOPE he has also written to Joanne! The college can and should do more to remedy the situation, and it would look better for doing it.

After reviewing the litany of on-line comments about my story on encaustic at Montserrat College I’d like to take a moment to weigh in.

My story was a brief and general look at encaustic. As most of our viewers were likely unfamiliar with the style, our intent was to offer a quick overview, illustrate the art through Montserrat’s two gallery shows and artist Julie Shaw Lutts’ work and to make mention of its increasing popularity. We never intended to profile the conference itself.

Montserrat aggressively courted coverage. Only one date was ever booked for interviews. I did not reschedule any shoots. I have reviewed my transcripts and would like to correct some of what’s been posted. I conducted a roughly eight minute interview with Leonie Bradbury, a roughly six minute interview with Stephen Immerman and a 14 minute interview with Julie Shaw Lutts (although most of that time was spent having her explain her process). The rest of the shooting was of the art itself.

Over the course of my interviews there was only one mention of Joanne Mattera and that was by Stephen Immerman at the top of his interview. He said the following: “It all starts with the ambitions and the energy of our faculty and Joanne Mattera who is arguably one of the national experts on encaustic who had the idea, had the passion. But it fits with Montserrat and the reason why is there are several themes that the conference exhibits that Montserrat also has. Montserrat was founded as a college by artists for artists…”

I am (and was) well aware of Joanne Mattera’s contributions to encaustic and appreciate her role in its resurgence. I did endeavor to interview her but unfortunately my schedule did not coincide with her own. While we would have preferred to have an interview with her, in the end I concluded it was best to shed some light on encaustic than none at all.

I stand by my story. Despite the rancor it has generated, I continue to admire the community you artists have fostered around your passion for encaustic.

Jared, thanks so much for your courteous and professional reply. I appreciate your response and your serious consideration of our criticism of your work. I'm also glad to see that you have noted Joanne Mattera’s prominent place in the encaustic "world", and the fact that she is an acknowledged authority in the field who deserves recognition for her important contributions.I can appreciate that your intention and production guidelines for "Greater Boston" were vastly different than those of Montserrat and of our considerations as artists who want to get the details presented correctly. I think that you are telling us that you can't invent something that isn't there when you shoot and write your program, and if Joanne Mattera was not present for the interviews and nobody at Montserrat stressed how important she was to encaustic at Montserrat besides throwing out an offhand remark, you couldn’t invent it. If it is true that the only mention of Joanne's name was by President Immerman in a casual kind of introduction (and you do have the hard evidence of this), then I do understand why it was edited out as an unimportant detail. If President Immerman and the Montserrat Public Relations Department had really stressed that you can’t say “encaustic” without saying “Joanne Mattera,” I think you probably would have included at least a mention of her as the founder and director of the annual encaustic conference. That Joanne’s name was not even mentioned in your piece is what has us so steamed because we know that it’s not Montserrat College of Art that is encaustic’s “champion”, but Joanne Mattera. If you don’t mention Joanne, then Montserrat gets the credit for Joanne’s vision and hard work. This is not fair to her and to those of us who are so indebted to her for so much. We who were there (and have been for four conferences over four years) know that the reason that Montserrat had the two encaustic shows on display is that they were organized in conjunction with the encaustic conference. If there had been no conference, there would have been no encaustic shows.And without Joanne Mattera, there would have been no encaustic conferences at Montserrat.I’m sure you feel like we’re nitpicking, but we have to protest the extreme disloyalty of Montserrat to Joanne. Montserrat claims that they were not at fault, but your video footage says that they were. What was really the problem is that your visit was scheduled while neither Joanne Mattera nor Dean Laura Tonelli was available at Montserrat. This meant that you were not going to get the real story about encaustic at Montserrat. Montserrat’s going forward with your visit in Joanne’s and Laura’s absence and Montserrat’s continuing promotion of your coverage of “Encaustic at Montserrat” without a disclaimer about the omission of Joanne Mattera is dishonest and shameful.I hope that there are no hard feelings and thank you again for taking the time to review your video and try to set the record straight.

I am just checking into my Blog and others I Follow after a few weeks, and am just jaw dropping through the first part of this. I just want you to know how awful I think it is how Joanne was not only left out of being mentioned at the Encaustic Conference but the sheer arrogance of denial of any wrong doing by everyone involved at the school is just disgusting. I would not even know how to create Encaustic paintings and certainly not be able to teach classes about it if it was not for Joanne, her expertise and amazing and dedicated generous sharing of her incredible knowledge and work.

Have you thought about a warmer environment like perhaps San Diego for the next conference?

To the Encaustic CommunityI am so sorry that the WGBH piece has lead to such discord.I was asked to participate as a local artist to add an artist's perspective. I thought about saying no as I'm not really an in front of the camera kind of person, but I said yes because I wanted to support the cause, the college and Joanne's hard work which has built a world class conference. As you know my work does not represent how everyone works in wax, just mine.We were all at the Gallery and I was plugging in hot plates, getting the wax ready etc. When filming started we had to sit quietly which gave me the opportunity to listen to each interview. The first one was by Maggie Cavallo, who assisted with the "Flow and Control" exhibit. She gave a detailed tour of the show and each artist was discussed. As you know if you've seen the clip, she was entirely left on the cutting room floor.Then Leonie Bradbury and Montserrat's new president Steve Immerman were interviewed. Each were asked specific questions. President Immerman was particularly effuse in his admiration and awe of Joanne's energy and commitment to encaustic.I'm so sorry that the editor at WGBH chose not to include any mention of Joanne, and I do wish she had been interviewed because her passion and expertise would have been welcomed. Joanne has been a true friend and mentor to me.Julie Shaw Lutts

As a presenter and workshop teacher involved in the conference from the very beginning, I have observed just how much Joanne has had to create all her own resources and use her contacts to make the Encaustic Conference happen. And in the past, I have been appalled at Montserrat’s lack of cooperation and, indeed, lack of enthusiasm for the Conference.

Montserrat’s enthusiasm to run forward and grab the credit now that it is an incredible success is reprehensible in the extreme. The Conference, with a capital “C” is Joanne and without her, it would not be at all. I feel confidant that the entire encaustic community is with you, Joanne, and will follow you anywhere you choose to move it.

Everyone,I thought you might like to know that as of today the the college removed the the link to the offending video. A number of artists, myself included, had suggested that removal might be a good faith gesture. I'm pleased to see it gone. I think it means we can all move on--they on their own path, we on ours.

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What am I reading?

I'm always reading something and now it's another one of Robert Caro's volumes of Lyndon Johnson's biography. "Passage of Power" is the fourth volume in this monumental series and covers the years 1958 to 1964. This period of Johnson's life was full of extremes of power - from the peak as Majority Leader of the Senate, then fading as he failed to actively campaign for the presidential nomination in 1960. Once he joined Kennedy on the 1960 Democratic ticket, his southern connections gave Kennedy the win, but Johnson sank into powerless oblivion and became the butt of jokes by "the Harvards." On Kennedy's death, Johnson ascended to the presidency and experienced another series of extremes of political power.

Caro is a master of biography and is always interesting and informative. I recommend this volume (and series) to anyone who follows politics and wants to know some background on how we got where we are today.